


Dancing in the Dark

by bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Post 1x11, bughead - Freeform, first I love you, slow dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 13:19:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10832079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid/pseuds/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid
Summary: Here is a little fic I wrote post 1x11 to help myself find closure.





	Dancing in the Dark

Betty ran out of Pop’s, her mind racing with the new information about F.P. But the first thing on her mind was finding Jughead, she had to make sure he was okay. She had to let him know that she did believe him and trust him and that she hadn’t had a part in their friends’ plan. Mostly, she had to tell him that she loved him. Betty decided to check the trailer next.

She practically sprinted the whole way, finally arriving with her lungs burning. She was sweaty and disheveled, but she didn’t care. Her only concern was Jughead. Betty hesitantly pushed open the trailer door. Her heart dropped when she found it dark inside. She had been so sure this was where Jughead would come. She started to leave when she heard a noise come from somewhere in the darkness. Turning on the flashlight on her phone, Betty found the light switch and flicked the lights on. She gasped softly at the state of the trailer. Everything had been torn apart, she guessed it had happened during the police search.

Betty’s eyes scanned desperately around the small space until she finally found the boy she was looking for. Her heart dropped again at the sight of him. He was curled up in the corner, hands covering his face, and shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.

“Jug…” Betty rushed over and sat next to him, she found herself suddenly unable to say any of the things she had wanted to say to him. What words could possibly make his pain go away? To her surprise, no words ended up being necessary. At her voice, Jughead looked up, tears staining his face. Pain was evident in his expression, but also something that looked like relief. When she sat down, he threw his arms around her and buried his face into her neck. Betty immediately wrapped her arms around her distraught boyfriend and started stroking his back. She didn’t shush him or tell him that it was going to be alright, she just let him cry.

Jughead’s sobs grew louder as he finally let out all of the pain he had been feeling recently. Betty knew he wasn’t just crying about the events of that night. He was crying for his family. For the family that he had thought he was getting back. For the family that he might never get. He was crying because his father had let him down again and he couldn’t handle it. Betty found herself crying with him, unable to bear listening to his raw pain.

Finally, when Jughead had cried himself dry, he pulled slightly away but kept his arms wrapped around Betty. She reached up and brushed the remaining tears off of his cheeks, searching his expression for any hint that he was upset at her.

“Juggie,” Betty started to explain, but he shook his head to quiet her and reached a hand up to stroke her cheek.

“I’m sorry Bets, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You aren’t responsible for their actions, and I know you had good intentions.” Jughead’s voice was raspy from all of the crying.

“I did, but I still shouldn’t have lied to you. You were just so happy and I didn’t want to be the one to take that away from you.” Betty’s eyes filled up with more tears, remember his happy smile when talking about it being important for their families to get to know one another. That moment seemed worlds away.

“We have to be honest with one another Betty, this town is filled with so much deceit and lies. We have to be able to count on one another.” Jughead dropped his hands and looked away from her, sadness filling his expression once again. Betty knew what the unsaid rest of that sentence was. They had to be able to count on one another, because they couldn’t trust anyone else in their lives. Betty rushed to tell Jughead what Archie and Veronica had told him.

“Jughead, your dad was framed. I ran into Archie and Veronica when I was looking for you, they told me that there was no lock box in the closet when they searched this place. It was planted after they left. Someone is framing your dad for Jason’s murder, he’s innocent and we are going to make damn sure everyone knows that.” Betty watched a series of emotions flash across Jughead’s face as he absorbed the information.

“He was framed?” Jughead said slowly

“Yes Juggie” Betty nodded and grabbed his hands. “You were right to believe in him.”

“I knew it, I knew he wasn’t lying when he told me he had nothing to do with Jason’s murder.” Jughead looked back at her, a small bit of light returning to his eyes.

“That’s what I tried to tell my mom and Veronica. I told them that I trusted you and believed you…but I couldn’t convince them” Betty felt ashamed once more because she hadn’t told Jughead what was going on. She should’ve trusted her instincts and told him, but she had once again let her mom get into her head. She had listened when Alice had told her that it would break Jughead’s heart to know her real motivations behind the dinner. Although that had been true, Betty should’ve seen that her betrayal would hurt him more.

“I’m pretty sure there is no convincing Alice Cooper or Veronica Lodge of anything ever” Jughead said with the tiniest of smiles.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on the moment I knew…” Betty angrily brushed away a fresh tear.

“It’s done, you’re forgiven.” Jughead waved it away with his hand, “I trust you Betty, it’s just hard for me to accept that there is someone in my life that will keep fighting for me no matter what. I’m not used to that. I shouldn’t have doubted you so quickly.”

“You’re forgiven” Betty gave him forgiveness as fast as he had given it to her. “I think this is new territory for both of us, opening up, trusting, being vulnerable. We are both likely to make mistakes, but the important thing is that we forgive each other and grow stronger because of them.” She leaned in to give him a kiss. She cupped his face as their lips pressed together in a sweet, soft kiss.

When they separated, Jughead wrapped his hands lightly around her wrists and pulled them off of his face. On instinct, Betty’s hands curled into fists. It was a habit she had developed to hide her scars. Jughead looked up at her and with a sigh, she slowly relaxed her hands, revealing fresh cuts on her palms.

“I didn’t even realize I was doing it” Betty said softly “I know I promised to stop, but it’s just a reaction now, every time I find myself getting upset and overwhelmed I do it. I barely even felt the pain this time, I was so focused on finding you…” Betty trailed off, the three words she’d wanted to say to him all night on the tip of her tongue. She took a deep breath and jumped right in, “…because I love you.” Jughead, who’d been focused on her hands, looked up at her in shock. His eyes widened and a slow smile spread across his face.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me” Betty bit her lip, anxious to hear him say it back.

“Say it again.”

“I love you. I was talking to my mom and she thought that I was done with you and I said that I loved you and that you were my family.” Betty found herself smiling to match his.

“I feel the same way, I love you, Betty Cooper.” Jughead’s expression changed to something more intense. “I’m sorry I threw Toledo at you like that. I didn’t mean what I said. Even if that were still to happen, there is no way I’d leave you. You mean way too much to me.” Betty felt a wave of happiness wash over her. His words, the way he was looking at her, it was more than she could’ve possibly hoped for.

“If your family does get back together and move to Toledo, then I guess I’m just going to have to come with you.” She said with a grin.

“Really?”

“Of course” They both knew that even if his father was cleared, he probably wouldn’t be allowed to leave town anytime soon. But for the moment, they were both enjoying the fantasy of moving far far away from that crazy town filled with crazy people.

“You know, with all of the insanity going on at the dance, I never did get to slow dance with you. I was prepared too, I’d even asked my dad to teach me.” Jughead said with a soft smile. Betty felt another wave of happiness at the thought of him learning how to dance for you. Jughead stood up and walked over to the corner of the trailer, where an old record player was on its side. Jughead righted it and put a record on, then he pushed aside some of the rubble to clear a small area. “May I have this dance?” He asked, coming over to Betty and extending his hand.

“Oh, I suppose so” She teased, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. She put her other hand on his shoulder and leaned her head on his chest. Jughead’s free hand wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her close against him. They didn’t really dance as much as sway to the beat of the soft jazz coming from the record player. Betty was slightly surprised that FP would have a record like that until she realized that maybe it was Jughead. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if Jughead liked to listen to jazz as he wrote.

The two held each other and swayed gently to the music amongst the ruins of the trailer. Betty hated the word perfect, but she couldn’t think of another word that better described the moment.

“Say it again” She whispered

“I love you,” Jughead said, leaning his cheek against her hair.

Yes, at that moment, everything was perfect.


End file.
